Week eight upset alert—No. 17 Arkansas
After a high-octane week seven that included a pair of top-25 matchups, the only team to pull an upset was Arkansas. Can they prevent the same from happening to them this week?
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Week eight is headlined by three interesting matchups featuring top-25 teams. The No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies travel to Bryant-Denny Stadium to take on the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, the No. 23 Ole Miss Rebels head to Death Valley at night to take on the flourishing No. 25 LSU Tigers and No. 17 Arkansas goes on the road to take on the No. 21 Auburn Tigers in the upset alert of the week.
While Auburn’s defense is a force to be reckoned with and has established itself as one of the SEC’s strongest defenses, the Tiger offense has finally hit their stride lately. Auburn has collected over 600 yards on the ground over the past two weeks and over 1,000 in total. The Tigers’ defense, as mentioned before, has been fantastic this season, allowing under 350 yards per game despite playing powerful offenses such as Clemson, Texas A&M and LSU. The battle in the trenches against Arkansas should be interesting to watch.
Despite Auburn’s recent success, they may be biting off more than they can chew, as the Razorbacks are coming off of an upset win last week against an Ole Miss team ranked No. 12 at the time. Unlike the Tigers, Arkansas has been hitting on all cylinders on offense this season and have scored 30 points in all but one game thus far. Austin Allen has impressed as a passer and the big Razorbacks offensive line has helped establish running back Rawleigh Williams III as one of the best in the nation. If Arkansas can continue to have an evenly balanced attack through both the air and the ground, Auburn may face one of its toughest challenges on defense this year.
While the Arkansas defense has handled the pass game pretty well, its run defense has been lacking. This opens up the game for the Tigers by giving them a chance to help quarterback Sean White with a balanced offensive attack. If Auburn continues to improve offensively and the Razorbacks continue to get gashed on the ground, an upset this week is very possible.
Auburn and Arkansas are set to kick off at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Edited by David Bradford
Featured image by Scott Fillmer
